Greg and Oregon Birders,

In some areas, rafts of hundreds and even thousands of Ruddy Ducks
winter on salt water. One such area is Boundary Bay and Semiahmoo Bay,
which lie astride the Canada/U.S. border near White Rock, BC and
Blaine, Washington.

The White Rock Christmas Bird Count, which includes much of Boundary
Bay and Semiahmoo Bay, has recorded an average of nearly 2000 Ruddy
Ducks over the last 30 years. In one year (1978), more than 11,000
were estimated.

It is worth noting that Boundary Bay is definitely marine-- not
estuarine. Although the Fraser River enters Georgia Strait not far
north of here, Boundary Bay has only small streams entering it, and
the salinity is high. The environment is marine, but one might not
call it oceanic. It's definitely more sheltered than the open ocean
off Boiler Bay.

I agree that in most areas, Ruddy Ducks seem to strongly prefer fresh
water. However, there are exceptions!

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, BC
contopus at shaw.ca


----- Original Message -----
From: <greg.gillson at exgate.tek.com>
To: Obol <obol at lists.orst.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 10:48 AM
Subject: pelagic Ruddy Ducks


Friday morning (11/29) there were about 60 RUDDY DUCKS swimming
offshore of Boiler Bay to the NW in a flock of SURF and WHITE-WINGED
SCOTERS. Phil says he rarely spots this species flying by Boiler Bay.
Has anyone else seen RUDDY DUCKS swimming in the ocean? Seems pretty
unusual to me.

Greg Gillson
greg at thebirdguide.com <mailto:greg at thebirdguide.com>